And he told me: “The story starts aged 10. I was a hip hop kid and thought at that age to fully embrace hip hop I had to hate everything else.

“The Brits have always held this music in high esteem and put it on a pedestal – which I thank you for”

DJ Cassidy

“But I looked up to founders of hip hop like Afrika Bambaata and Grand Master Flash and quickly realised that they didn’t play hip hop because there was none. They were playing soul, funk, disco rock ’n’ roll, Latin – everything under the sun – to create this new sound.

“Four years ago I set off on a mission to bring back the greatest dance music of all time back to the dancefloor, back to the airwaves.”

First fruit of his project is Calling All Hearts featuring Robin Thicke and our own Jessie J.

He has also worked with John Legend, Estelle, Kelly Rowland, Mary J Blige, Chromeo, Passion Pit, Neyo, Cee-lo, Usher and R Kelly.

Cassidy praises British fans for keeping the classic music alive.

He added: “The Brits have always held this music in high esteem and put it on a pedestal – which I thank you for.”